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How Do We Create a Vibrant and Sustainable Community? Discovering Jewish Life in Colonial America American Jewish History Through Objects

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How Do We Create a Vibrant and Sustainable Community? Discovering Jewish Life in Colonial America American Jewish History Through Objects How Do We Create a Vibrant and Sustainable Community? Discovering Jewish Life in Colonial America American Jewish History Through Objects 01 YOUR NEIGHBOR SOCIAL MEDIA 09 Judge your neighbor fairly… Do not hate your neighbor in your heart… Ruth Sullivan…has used social media to find what she calls her Love your neighbor as yourself. "little niche part of the queer community" after struggling in the local club scene. "On Twitter, the bi community is way more visible and I’ve been able to find people to chat with and celebrate those בצדק תשפט עמיתך…לא תשנא את אחיך בלבבך … .elements of myself I felt were keeping me on the outside," she says ואהבת לרעך כמוך. Leviticus, 19:15, 17, 18 Frances Ryan, “The missing link: why disabled people can’t afford to #DeleteFacebook,”The Guardian Online, April 4, 2018 02 THE SAME FREEDOM BUILD BRIDGES 08 One of our Nation…request- As you discover what ed of the Noble Burgomas- strength you can draw from ters that he might obtain his your community in this Burgher certificate, like oth- world from which it stands er Burghers, which to our apart, look outward as well as inward. Build bridges great surprise was declined instead of walls. and refused by the Noble Burgomasters.... [W]e should Sonia Sotomayor, U.S. Supreme Court Justice, 2013 enjoy here the same freedom as other inhabitants of New Netherland enjoy. A WIDE GULF 07 Arabs as a class are not white Petition by Salvador Daranda, Jacob Cohen Henriques, Abraham DeLucena, and therefore not eligible for Joseph Acosta that Jews be admitted citizenship…. It cannot be to the Burgher Right, April 20, 1657 expected that as a class they would readily intermarry on skin color? 03 PUBLIC WORSHIP with our population and be assimilated into our civilization. The Jews petition to District court denying the petition of Ahmed Hassan, the first Arab Muslim to be based citizenship Should the Governor for Lib- apply for citizenship, 1942 erty to Exercise their Model of Touro Synagogue made by Stuart Gootnick, 1984 LAND OF THE FREE 06 Religion… was read in National Museum of American Jewish History, 1986.16.1a Common Councell, The Mr. and Mrs. Robert Saligman Purchase Fund The thought of being set- tled… in a land of peace… and they returned gave much comfort to their opinions there- myself and family… We upon That noe publique Worship is Tolerated by act had hoped with them to build a home where violence and of assembly, but to those that profess faith in Christ, the rage of mobs would no more invade the settlements of an innocent people who had been hunted and pursued from and therefore the Jews’ Worship not to be allowed. the beginning of their religious identity—though their ideas Minutes of the Common Council of the City of New York, September 14, 1685 of Gospel truths had their earliest inception in "the land of the free." 04 BREAD AND BUTTER Lyman Omer Littlefield, Reminiscences of Latter-day Saints: Giving an Account of Much Individual Suffering Endured for Religious Conscience, 1888 is or not part of a community? does food define who ways In what [Y]ou [were] asked at my brother Asher’s to a fish dinner but you did not go. I desire you will never LANGUAGE 05 eat anything with him unless it be bread and butter OF THE COUNTRY nor nowhere else where there is the last doubt of [I]t has been necessary to translate our prayers in the language things not done after our strict Judiacal method, of the country wherein it hath pleased the Divine Providence for whatever my thoughts may be concerning some to appoint our lot. In Europe the Spanish and Portuguese Jews fables, this and some other fundamentals, I look have a translation in Spanish, which, as the generally under- upon them conscientiously. stand, may be sufficient, but that not being the case in the British Dominions in America has induced me to attempt a Abigail Levy Franks of Philadelphia in a letter to her son in England, 1733 translation in English…to the improvement of many of my brethren in their devotion. Isaac Pinto’s introduction to the first Jewish prayer book published in North America, 1776 nmajh.org/openbook Teacher Guide 7th – 11th Grade How Do We Create a Vibrant and Sustainable Community? Jewish Life in Colonial America Discovering American Jewish History Through Objects How did the earliest Jewish settlers form and maintain community in the colonial period of American history? How do we maintain stable and vibrant communities today? When the first Jews permanently settled in America, their small community sought, defended, and tested freedom—in political affairs, in relations with Christian neighbors, and in their own understanding of what it meant to be Jewish. In Colonial America, there were no long-standing structures of Jewish life and no central authority. Free from traditional European Jewry, they collaborated, struggled, and experimented to form communal bonds in a place where Judaism had never existed. In this improvisational and exciting period of U.S. history, the Jewish immigrants forged a new identity as American Jews. This lesson begins in 1654 when a ship of Jewish refugees from Brazil landed in New Amsterdam. However, the lesson is not only about the Jewish community. Other cultures and religions faced obstacles and decisions while trying to establish themselves. From Latter-day Saints to Muslim- Arab immigrants, they also formed unique communities of Americans. In an age of pluralism and technologies, has the concept of community changed? How do communities continue to be part of our lives today? KEY QUESTIONS: — What did it mean to be a colonial Jew? What was it like to live in the colonial period of American history? — How did early Jewish Americans earn rights that had only been granted to Christian colonists at that time? — How did other groups form their communities throughout American history? — How can we foster positive relations between communities of differing beliefs or heritages? — What effect does technology and social media have on our understanding of community in the 21st century? — How can we contribute to maintaining stable and vibrant communities? LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of this unit students will be able to: — Apply inquiry-based methods to interpreting museum objects and/or primary sources — Explore a historical question using critical thinking, text analysis, object interpretation, and discussion — Identify factors that define a community — Trace the development of Jewish communities during the formative years of American history nmajh.org/openbook 2 — Make connection between the Jewish experience and the way other religions formed communities in the U.S. — Discuss how communities have adapted to the 21st century nmajh.org/openbook 3 Suggested Pre-Lesson Activity Introduction to Teacher: This lesson will demonstrate what it meant to be a Colonial Jew as well as how other distinct communities have become part of American society. Across both time and religion, the texts highlight the struggles that people faced in order to be accepted, their desire to maintain their identity, and their responsibilities to other communities 1. Ask students to volunteer to share their own definitions of “community” and to list any communities of which they are a part. 2. Explain to students that they will encounter ideas and words describing the process of community-building that might have different meanings for different people. These terms are at the root of how an individual identifies themselves and defines with one or more communities. 3. Create a chart on the board with three vertical columns or reproduce a worksheet with three vertical columns. Fill the first column with these 17 terms: Acceptance Integrate Citizenship Nationality Community Neighbor Congregation Race Culture Religion Ethnicity Society Friend Toleration Heritage Worship Identity 4. Students will work in groups of two or three. Ask each group to select three terms and discuss what each term means. They should come to a consensus in their group and write down their definition in the second column. Students should also discuss examples/demonstrations of each term from a community to which they belong. For the third column, students will look up and record the dictionary definition. 5. When the class is back together, lead the discussion by asking: — For which words or ideas were the students’ interpretations the most similar to the dictionary definitions? Which ones deviated the most? nmajh.org/openbook 4 — Are there some terms for which the class cannot come to a consensus on the meaning? — What do you think happens when members of the same community cannot come to an agreement on what these words mean? For example, people might have different ideas about how the meaning of heritage, ethnicity, race, and nationality are connected. — Does the class agree on a single definition of “community?” Why or why not? How do their understandings of the term differ? nmajh.org/openbook 5 Procedure 1. Refer to the Open Book Overview and follow the instructions for the “See, Think, Wonder” activity as a class. Consider using the following discussion questions. See: — What details do you notice? — Do you see any Jewish decorations or symbols? Are they inside the sanctuary or on the outside of the building? — How are the seats arranged? — What does the Torah Ark look like? — Do you see a mechitzah? Where did the women sit? — Where is the bimah located? — What does the outside of the building look like from the sides that are not cutaway for the interior view? Think: — Do you think people could tell the building was a synagogue from the outside? — Why do you think the original synagogue was built to resemble the surrounding buildings? — Where do you think the congregation is located? Do you think they sit or stand? — Why do you think the seats are arranged this way? — Why do you think the artist chose to create the model? — How do you think the candlesticks and other miniature metal objects were made? — Do you think the artist put miniature Torah scrolls in the Ark? — Do you think the model should have miniature people inside? — What features do you think should be included in a model of your own house of worship? Wonder: —I wonder how closely this model matches the original building.
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